CDS&E: AAG: "glupyter": Enabling multi-dimensional linked data visualization with glue in the browser

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The open-source glue package allows scientists to explore relationships within and across related datasets. It makes it easy to create multi-dimensional linked visualizations, to select subsets interactively or programmatically, and then see those selections in context. A unique feature of glue is that it allows user-defined mathematical relationships between sets of data components. Because of limitations with the current glue application, a new interface to glue is under development, called "glupyter". The present award will support transforming glupyter from a proof-of-concept application to a fully featured, polished and science-grade application for astronomical research and beyond. Glue and glupyter can be used across many fields of science, from exploring astronomical observations to analyzing radiological images of the brain to exploring patterns in multi-wavelength satellite images. As their capabilities expand, so will their potential for impact outside of scientific research. They are already good tools for teaching the fundamentals of data exploration, and will enable new data-science curricula for students in grades 6-14. Cognitive and visualization research has long shown that humans are especially adept at seeing change, which is why real-time data exploration using linked views of high-dimensional data offers such an effective way to look for trends, outliers and salient subsets, even in very large data sets. Commercial linked-view tools can be used for single tabular data files, but no extant tool handles linked-view selection in two-dimensional images and three-dimensional volumes spread across multiple files. This is where the strength of glue lies. Meanwhile, Jupyter notebooks are increasingly popular for data analysis, as they store an entire workflow using narrative text, code, and visualizations. They encourage reproducibility and facilitate sharing. Bringing glue into the Jupyter ecosystem as glupyter offers unparalleled potential for insight. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.